mtenis.com.pl

Draper, Nakashima & Lehecka feature
The 2022 season saw a host of #NextGenATP stars make their mark on Tour, with Holger Rune and Lorenzo Musetti among those capturing their maiden tour-level titles.

From Top 10 wins to career-high Pepperstone ATP Rankings, ATPTour.com looks back at the brightest young prospects of 2022.

Holger Rune, 19 years old
Holger Rune’s rise in 2022 was nothing short of remarkable. The 19-year-old started the season at No. 103 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings but ended the year as the World No. 11, having climbed to a career-high No. 10 following his dream run to the Rolex Paris Masters title.

After a consistent start, the Dane’s season took off in May when he defeated then-World No. 3 Alexander Zverev en route to his maiden tour-level title in Munich. A quarter-final run at Roland Garros followed, with Rune upsetting Stefanos Tsitsipas in Paris.

The 19-year-old saved his best until the end of the year, though, winning 19 of his final 21 matches of the season. Rune lifted the trophy in Stockholm and reached finals in Sofia and Basel in October. Arriving in Paris in confident mood, Rune beat Top 10 stars Hubert Hurkacz, Andrey Rublev, Carlos Alcaraz, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Novak Djokovic to win the biggest title of his career.


Lorenzo Musetti, 20 years old
Lorenzo Musetti had shown fans glimpses of his potential in 2021, reaching tour-level semi-finals in Acapulco and Lyon. However, the Italian took his game to a new level this season, climbing to a career-high No. 23 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

The 20-year-old impressed on clay across Europe, reaching the third round at ATP Masters 1000 events in Monte Carlo and Madrid before he won an ATP Challenger Tour crown on home soil in Forli. Musetti’s best result came in Hamburg, where he won his first tour-level title. He saved match points in his opening match to claw past Dusan Lajovic before he then defeated Carlos Alcaraz in a thrilling final to triumph.

Musetti transferred his impressive clay-court form to hard courts in the final months of the year. He captured the crown in Naples in October and advanced to the quarter-finals in Paris, ending the season holding a 34-27 tour-level record.

Jack Draper, 20 years old
With his big lefty serve and explosive forehand, Jack Draper made his mark in 2022. The 20-year-old entered the year at No. 265 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings with just two tour-level wins to his name.

Fast forward 11 months and the Briton is the World No. 41, having earned 21 tour-level victories this year. Draper, who missed the second half of 2021 due to a ruptured ligament in his ankle, started the season on fire, winning four ATP Challenger Tour titles in the opening four months.

The 20-year-old then quickly impressed on the ATP Tour. He won main draw matches at ATP Masters 1000 events in Miami and Madrid before he soared to his first tour-level semi-final on home soil in Eastbourne. Draper made his biggest splash in North America, where he earned his first Top 10 win against Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the quarter-finals in Montreal before he upset Felix Auger-Aliassime at the US Open.


Brandon Nakashima, 21 years old
Brandon Nakashima is next. The American ended his season in style in Milan where he became the fifth player to capture the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals title. The 20-year-old, currently No. 47 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, blitzed through the field at the 21-and-under event to become an undefeated champion in Italy.

Earlier in the season, Nakashima clinched his first tour-level title in San Diego, defeating Marcos Giron in the final to triumph on home soil. He also impressed at the Grand Slams, reaching the third round at Roland Garros and the US Open and the fourth round at Wimbledon.

The American will look to follow in the footsteps of previous the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals champions Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz and crack the Top 10 in the future.


Jiri Lehecka, 21 years old
For Jiri Lehecka, sporting success runs in the family, with his father a former swimmer and his mother a track and field star. In 2022, the Czech made his mark in the tennis scene with a series of impressive results on both the ATP Challenger Tour and ATP Tour.

The 21-year-old’s breakthrough season started in Rotterdam. After coming through qualifying, he earned his maiden tour-level win against Denis Shapovalov. He then defeated Botic van de Zandschulp and Lorenzo Musetti to reach the semi-finals in a run that lifted him into the Top 100.

Lehecka struggled for consistency in the following months but did lift an ATP Challenger Tour trophy in Liberec in August before finishing the year impressively in Milan, where he advanced to the final on debut at the 21-and-under event.

Shelton, Tseng, Rune, Draper and Lehecka all made big strides in 2022
They are among the brightest young stars on the ATP: Ben Shelton, Chun-Hsin Tseng, Jack Draper, Jiri Lehecka and Holger Rune. And all five are nominees for the Newcomer of the Year in the 2022 ATP Awards, to be announced later this month.

Selected by players, the award goes to the #NextGenATP player who entered the Top 100 for the first time in 2022 and made the biggest impact on the ATP Tour this season.

Player
Age
Career-High (Date)
Ben Shelton
20
No. 97 (21 November)
Chun-Hsin Tseng
21
No. 83 (8 August)
Holger Rune
19
No. 10 (7 November)
Jack Draper
20
No. 41 (7 November)
Jiri Lehecka
21
No. 59 (8 August)
Ben Shelton, 20
From NCAA college tennis to the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Tour, Shelton made his mark at every level in 2022.

The American clinched the prestigious NCAA singles title in U.S. college tennis in May, representing the University of Florida. That achievement kick-started a meteoric rise for Shelton, who subsequently earned a 35-8 record in Challenger events either side of upsetting Lorenzo Sonego and Casper Ruud to reach the third round of the Western & Southern Open.

That run in Cincinnati prompted Shelton’s decision to turn professional prior to the US Open in August, and the 20-year-old has barely stopped winning since. He made four Challenger finals in six tournaments to round out his year, and in November became the youngest player in Challenger history to lift three trophies in as many weeks. Having started 2022 at No. 573 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Shelton ended it a career-high No. 97.

“It’s definitely gone quick,” said Shelton after finishing his season with 15 straight wins. “I’m going to take this offseason and slow down a bit, enjoy myself, and also focus on some things I can improve.”


Chun-Hsin Tseng, 21
Perseverance paid off for Tseng in 2022.

After plenty of hard graft and toil in his bid to make his mark at the top level, the 21-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough season this year. A series of strong performances on the ATP Challenger Tour combined with the first three ATP Tour match wins of his young career propelled Tseng more than 100 spots to a year-end No. 86 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

“For me it was an incredible journey because when I was around 280 or 300, I was stuck there for two or three years,” Tseng recently told ATPTour.com. “For me it was tough, but suddenly [this year] I became Top 100. I was very surprised because at that moment I didn’t really expect that I would go that fast.”

Tseng reached three ATP Challenger Tour finals between February and April and came away with the trophy in Bengaluru and Murcia before notching his maiden ATP Tour main-draw victory in August against Nick Chappell in Los Cabos. His performances ultimately earned him a spot at November’s Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, where he was the first Asian player to compete at the 21-and-under season finale since Hyeon Chung in 2017.

“There was a time I was always confused on court and made some wrong decisions and things just didn’t go well,” said Tseng of his journey to the Top 100. “But I just keep trying to work hard every day and try to improve myself because I believe that will bring me to the top level.”

<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/chun ... >Chun-Hsin Tseng</a>
Tseng in action in Milan in November. Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour

Holger Rune, 19
Two red-hot streaks of form defined a stunning 2022 season for Rune.

If a string of top-quality wins during the European clay-court season were a sign that the Dane had the game to compete with the very best on Tour, his late-season charge on indoor hard courts proved his ability to convert those attributes into title-winning performances against the very best in the world.

Rune lifted his maiden ATP Tour title at the BMW Open by American Express in Munich in May, just two days after turning 19, before upsetting Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros. The Dane then responded to a moderate run of mid-year results like a seasoned pro, claiming two further titles while winning 19 of his final 21 matches of the year.

That sublime run included championship match appearances in Sofia and Basel, and Rune defeated World No. 5 Tsitsipas in straight sets to win the Stockholm Open. He capped off his year with the biggest title of his career, battling past Novak Djokovic in a thrilling Rolex Paris Masters final to break into the Top 10 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time.

“I’m feeling lovely to be honest, it’s the best feeling,” said Rune after his run to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Paris, where he defeated five Top 10 opponents in a row. “If you told me four weeks ago, I would be Top 10… I would be like ‘What, sorry?’ Now I’m here and I’m super proud.”


Jack Draper, 20
The list of Draper’s 19 tour-level victories in 2022 makes impressive reading. It includes wins against Top 10 or former Top 10 stars Taylor Fritz, Diego Schwartzman, Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem and Felix Auger-Aliassime. Perhaps even more notably, he beat them all in straight sets.

Having claimed four ATP Challenger Tour titles in the first three months of the season, it didn’t take long for Draper to prove that his powerful lefty game was ready to do damage on the ATP Tour. He reached the semi-finals in Eastbourne, the quarter-finals at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Montreal and the third round at the US Open before rounding out his year by reaching the semi-finals at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals.

“I think the most satisfying run was [at] the US Open,” Draper told ATPTour.com in November. “I feel I beat two players in [Emil] Ruusuvuori and Auger-Aliassime who are top players and people I have been watching the past couple of years… The Tsitsipas win as well in Montreal. Playing those top players and getting wins and feeling comfortable is crucial.”

Draper’s exploits helped the 20-year-old jump from No. 265 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings at the start of 2022 to No. 42 by the year’s end, a perfect springboard for the Briton as he looks to hit new highs in the 2023 season.


Jiri Lehecka, 21 (Czech Republic)
It didn’t take Lehecka long to break new ground in 2022. The Czech qualified for his first Grand Slam main draw in January at the Australian Open, where he pushed Grigor Dimitrov to four sets in the first round.

Three weeks later, Lehecka arrived at the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam as the World No. 137 seeking to reach his maiden ATP Tour main draw. This time, however, he did more than just qualify. Then 20, he upset Denis Shapovalov, Botic van de Zandschulp and Lorenzo Musetti for his first ATP Tour wins before pushing Tsitsipas to three sets in the semi-finals at the indoor ATP 500 event.

A quarter-final run in Kitzbühel and an ATP Challenger Tour title at home in Liberec helped propel Lehecka to his career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 59 in August and he ended his 2022 season on another high by reaching the final at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals.

"Now I will focus for sure to keep in the Top 100 and to stay there," said Lehecka after his championship match run in Milan. "To move on and forward to make that transition from the ATP Challenger Tour level to ATP Tour level, and to [reach the] Top 50 even faster."